How AR Will Redefine FOOH Advertising in 2025

Augmented reality, or AR, is a rapidly evolving technology that’s reshaping how brands connect with audiences. With the market expected to surpass $230 billion by 2032, AR is quickly becoming integral to complementing other marketing strategies in 2025. [1] AR is no longer just a novelty – it’s becoming a core component of modern marketing strategies. From interactive filters to virtual try-ons, AR enhances engagement by blending the digital and physical worlds.

But what happens when you combine this interactivity with Fake Out-of-Home (FOOH) Advertising – the digital ad format currently redefining traditional advertising on social media with hyperrealistic CGI?

As these two kinds of advertisement continue to evolve, their combined potential offers brands new ways to craft show-stopping, interactive campaigns that leave a lasting impression. In this article, we’ll explore how AR and fake OOH Advertising are set to reshape marketing, why they work so well together, and how brands can leverage this powerful combination to elevate their next campaign.

Want to learn more about Fake OOH Advertising? Check out our FOOH Beginner’s Guide for 2025.

How AR and FOOH Are Changing Advertising

AR isn’t anything new to the customer experience. Brands like Snapchat and Instagram have already integrated AR into their platforms through features like face filters.

Maybe you have already come across interactive ads, and lenses that let you virtually try on products in-store, making AR already a huge part of customers’ daily lives. The immersiveness of the AR experience is what makes it such a natural fit for Fake Out of Home. While AR brings personalization and interactivity, FOOH delivers the wow-factor and sets the stage through ads with clever interactive storytelling and outworldly visuals on social media.

Unlike traditional out-of-home advertising (think static billboards or posters), Fake OOH Advertising takes a dynamic, digital-only approach. Through combining photorealistic 3D renderings or elements with footage of real-world locations or landmarks, FOOH creates ads that look so real, they stop viewers in their tracks. It’s this marriage of the digital and physical worlds that sets FOOH Advertising apart, allowing brands to craft bold, eye-catching campaigns that are perfectly suited for today’s highly visual, social-media-driven culture.

Want to see more great FOOH Advertising examples? Check out our CGI Ad Library.

Discover our FOOH Library

When combined with AR, FOOH isn’t just about creating visually stunning ads – it’s about giving audiences a way to experience them. Take Vodafone’s campaign in Germany, for example. They used a FOOH ad to hype up their AR campaign, and it was highly effective.[2]

The ad featured a massive 3D CGI poster placed in a digital space, complete with a QR code encouraging viewers to “Scan and Win.” Then, out of nowhere, a giant box flies into the scene and spills hundreds of smiley balls that fill the digital space, tumble out onto the streets, and float up into the sky. The ad ends with the tagline, “Together is better. In every GigaKombi.”

This Fake Out of Home ad gave people a glimpse of what the AR experience would feel like. When you scanned the QR code in real life, you’d unlock an interactive 360-degree AR world on your phone. You’d see virtual emojis, balloons, and even a 3D wheel showing Vodafone’s GigaKombi products, all blending seamlessly into your surroundings through your phone’s camera. It’s a perfect example of how FOOH Advertising and AR can complement each other in amplifying the customer experience both online and in the real world.

4 Reasons Why AR is the Perfect Fit for Fake OOH Advertising

AR and FOOH Advertising are transforming the advertising landscape in ways that weren’t possible even a few years ago. With AR’s ability to turn passive observers into active participants and FOOH’s hyperrealistic visuals grabbing attention like no other, their combination is setting the stage for immersive campaigns that redefine engagement. Here’s how AR will revolutionize FOOH in 2025:

1. Interactive and personalized engagement

AR takes fake OOH Advertising to a whole new level by making them interactive and engaging. Instead of just watching an ad, you can actively interact with it in the real world using AR. Take the Vodafone campaign from earlier as an example. The FOOH ad showed what the AR experience would feel like when scanning the QR code – objects coming to life from the billboard onto the streets, and maybe even offering rewards like discounts or freebies at nearby stores.

This type of experience creates a deeper connection with the brand because the audience isn’t just passively watching your Fake Out of Home ad; they’re experiencing the campaign as a whole. And when people do visit your campaign in person after seeing the FOOH ad, the AR experience feels personal and rewarding. It doesn’t come off as clickbait because FOOH does a better job of showcasing AR ads in an authentic and engaging way.

And it doesn’t stop there. Your FOOH ad can also draw attention beyond the physical location, bringing in more eyes and engagement from people who might not have visited otherwise. While it may not directly boost interaction with the OOH ad itself, your brand gets more visibility and is seen as a pioneer for doing something unique and innovative.

2. Enhanced storytelling

Augmented reality takes the storytelling potential of Fake Out of Home to a whole new level. With AR, brands can create layered, immersive narratives that go beyond standard video content.

For example, a geo-located collecting game (such as Pokémon GO) could encourage users to gather 50 virtual coins scattered around the city. Once completed, they receive a 10% discount for their next shopping trip. This kind of gamification not only grabs attention but also drives real-world interaction with brands.

By combining AR and Fake OOH Advertising, brands can craft campaigns that resonate emotionally with their audiences. Whether it’s letting users “experience” a product, explore an adventure, or interact with a brand’s vision, the storytelling becomes more vivid, memorable, and shareable. These interactive narratives also encourage longer engagement times, giving brands more opportunities to leave a lasting impression while showcasing their creativity and innovation.

3. Data-driven insights

AR makes it so much easier for brands to track how their campaigns are performing. Every time someone interacts with an AR experience – like scanning a QR code, trying out an immersive feature, or claiming an offer – that data can be tracked. This gives brands super useful info, like how long people engage, how often they interact, or how many actually convert into customers.

To put this into another example: An interactive FOOH ad for a makeup item could have a QR code on its OOH advertisement. You scan it and a game starts appearing on the OOH ad, people need to collect falling items with a bucket, once they collect 10 items they get a 10% voucher to be redeemed indoors. Brands can track how many people scanned the code and how many went to redeem the offer at a nearby store. This doesn’t just measure the AR experience – it also shows how effective the FOOH ad was at grabbing attention and driving action into local stores. Plus, AR can indirectly help brands track how people are interacting with their OOH ads in general, which wasn’t something they could easily and quickly before.

The best part? Brands can use this data in real time to tweak their campaigns. If fewer people than expected are scanning the QR code, they can update the FOOH ad or make the AR experience more exciting. This doesn’t just make the current campaign better – it also gives brands a head start on making even smarter, more effective ads in the future.

4. Global Scalability with Minimal Adjustments

Unlike traditional OOH ads, which require new physical assets for different regions, AR-powered Fake OOH Advertising can be executed globally with minimal effort.

The only thing that needs to be adjusted? The language in the AR experience.

This means brands can launch a single, visually striking FOOH campaign across multiple countries, keeping the core creative intact while tailoring the AR content for different markets. It’s a cost-effective, scalable way to create unified global campaigns while still localizing the customer experience.

5 Best Practices for Leveraging AR in Fake Out Of Home Campaigns

A great AR-enhanced Fake Out of Home campaign combines the strengths of FOOH and AR to create something unforgettable. When done right, this combo doesn’t just grab attention, it drives engagement and delivers measurable results. To make sure your AR-enhanced Fake OOH Advertising hits the mark, here are five best practices to follow:

1. Make engagement seamless

No one wants to jump through hoops just to see or experience an ad. People lose interest fast when asked to download an app or navigate a clunky setup before they can engage. That’s why app-free or web-based AR solutions are essential. A simple QR code that launches an experience directly through a browser makes all the difference.

The goal is to make the process so intuitive that users naturally follow through without second-guessing. The fewer barriers, the more likely they are to explore the AR journey and stick with it until the end – whether that means interacting with the ad, sharing it, or redeeming an offer.

2. Focus on user experience

For AR to truly shine in a Fake Out of Home campaign, it needs to feel like a seamless extension of the concept, not an awkward add-on. The AR journey should be simple to understand, easy to navigate, and genuinely rewarding for the user. If the interaction feels forced or confusing, you risk losing your audience’s interest before they even get to the good part. Designing an experience that enhances the message while being intuitive for users is essential.

A crucial step in achieving this is testing. Before launching your campaign, run the AR experience by different groups, ideally from your target audience, to see how they interact with it. Observing how people naturally engage can reveal areas where the journey might feel clunky or unclear. This feedback allows you to make adjustments that streamline the process and maximize engagement.

3. Use customer data to improve campaign

One of the biggest perks of using AR in Fake OOH Advertising is the wealth of data it provides. Every action, like scanning a QR code or redeeming an offer, can give you valuable insights into your audience’s behavior. This data doesn’t just help you measure how successful your FOOH ad is; it also guides how you approach future campaigns.

For instance, tracking how many people interacted with your AR can reveal how engaging your AR-enhanced Fake Out of Home campaign really is as a whole. These metrics can help you fine-tune everything from audience targeting to the overall AR design, ensuring your next campaign is even more impactful. Plus, real-time feedback allows you to make adjustments during the campaign if needed, giving you the edge in delivering an experience that resonates with your audience.

4. Work with the right people

Using AR as part of a Fake Out of Home campaign isn’t a one-person job – it’s a team effort that brings together specialists from different fields. You’ll need creatives to develop the overarching idea and concept, a 3D studio, and skilled developers to handle the technical implementation. Since these areas require distinct expertise, it’s rare to find a single company that can handle everything. That’s why finding the right partners for each part of the process is so important.

Collaboration between all these teams ensures that the AR elements, video assets, and FOOH visuals are seamlessly integrated. If even one piece doesn’t align, the whole experience can feel disjointed or underwhelming. Testing and constant communication between teams are key to making sure everything works together smoothly.

5. Align with brand goals

When you’re integrating AR into your FOOH campaign, it’s crucial that the AR experience is aligned with your overall brand strategy. The AR element should work as a tool to reinforce your brand’s message and help you hit specific goals. Think about what you want to achieve: Are you trying to drive more foot traffic to your store or website? Boost brand awareness? Or maybe increase social media engagement?

Whatever it is, the AR experience should be crafted to support that. If the AR experience is closely tied to your brand’s goals, it will resonate more deeply with your audience and feel like a natural extension of your messaging. This way, your audience won’t just remember the cool AR tech, but they’ll also remember how it made them feel about your brand and what they took away from the experience.

AR x FOOH: The Ultimate Duo for Next-Gen Marketing?

Augmented reality is revolutionizing advertising trends 2025, offering brands a dynamic way to engage with their audiences in ways traditional methods simply can’t match. The technology allows for immersive, interactive experiences that make ads feel less like passive viewing and more like an experience worth sharing. With AR, customers aren’t just exposed to advertisements – they become part of the narrative, enhancing their connection to the brand in a more personal way.

Fake OOH Advertising is the ideal format to promote AR experiences on social media. These hyperrealistic CGI ads are already proven to be highly engaging and attention-grabbing, making them the perfect gateway to drive users toward interactive AR activations. A well-executed FOOH ad can spark curiosity, encourage participation, and ultimately increase engagement with an AR experience. Together, they bring a new level of storytelling, personalization, and interactivity to marketing, creating a seamless bridge between the digital and physical realms.

As AR technology advances, leveraging Fake OOH Advertising as a promotional tool will become an even more effective strategy. Whether it’s by bringing products to life, offering instant interactions, or crafting immersive experiences, combining these two formats creates a powerful bridge between digital curiosity and real-world interaction.